Waste company fined £36,000 after repeated health and safety failures

Nation.Cymru staff

A waste and recycling company has been fined £36,000 after repeatedly failing to provide basic welfare facilities for workers, including running water and soap, despite more than a decade of enforcement action.

World Care (Wales) Ltd, based at Tre Marl Industrial Estate in north Wales, was prosecuted after a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found employees were sorting waste and recyclable materials by hand without adequate facilities to wash afterwards.

Llandudno Magistrates’ Court heard that workers had no access to warm running water, soap or a means of drying themselves following contact with waste materials, despite the potential risk of contamination.

The HSE also found the company had failed to provide asbestos awareness training to employees, even though asbestos had been brought onto the site on at least one occasion.

Inspectors said employers whose staff may encounter asbestos-containing materials are required to provide suitable training.

The investigation found the company had received enforcement notices on several occasions over an 11-year period, with inspectors repeatedly identifying failures to meet minimum health and safety standards relating to welfare facilities and staff training.

HSE inspector James Benton said: “The health risks from exposure to material containing asbestos are well known, yet this company wasn’t providing the appropriate facilities for workers to protect themselves.

“Basic welfare provision is essential to ensure that employees can clean themselves at work, helping to prevent exposure to harmful microorganisms.

“After being told of the risks, this company repeatedly failed to provide adequate welfare facilities such as soap and running water, and failed to provide asbestos awareness training to employees.”

World Care (Wales) Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.

The company was fined £36,000 and ordered to pay £8,867 in costs at Llandudno Magistrates’ Court on 6 July. The court agreed the penalties could be paid over a 16-month period.

The prosecution was brought by the Health and Safety Executive.